Assessment of metallic trace element contents of soils and plants of urban and suburban areas of Safi City (Morocco)

Assessment of metallic trace element contents of soils and plants of urban and suburban areas of Safi City (Morocco) | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Assessment of metallic trace element contents of soils and plants of urban and suburban areas of Safi City (Morocco) Btissam MANDRI, Hicham EL KHALIL, Ali BOULARBAH This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4823501/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 31 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Our paper syntheses results obtained from studying the effect of typical contamination sources on soils and plants in selected urban and suburban areas in the Safi City. Using common methods, the physicochemical characterization and metallic trace elements (TEs) contents of plants and soils, collected from different urban areas, control area (CA), cement factory (SF), uncontrolled landfill (UL), treatment and transformation unit of phosphate (TP), were determined. Results show that the studied urban and suburban areas can be qualified as polluted by metallic trace elements and the most polluted one is TP area (CA < SF < UL < TP). Results underline the significant contribution of the atmospheric pollution on the contamination of soils and plants collected from TP, UL and surrounding areas with TEs. The most contaminated plants species by TEs are those sampled from TP area and they are Eucalyptus globulus , Nerium oleander , Ficus carica and Medicago sativa . Sinapis arvensis L. and Carpobrotus edulis plants come in the second level with remarkable contamination levels of TEs respectively. Industrial activities in urban areas constitute a potential source of contamination of soils and plants by metallic trace elements that may pose real health risk for human population in the city. We can considered this study as a primary work to develop a global process to assess the environmental contamination of plants and soils in the region of Safi city. It can help us to manage potential polluted sites in a sustainable development strategy. Metallic trace elements Soil and plant contamination Bioaccumulation Factor Contamination Factor Pollution Load Index Urban and Suburban Areas Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 31 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 02 Sep, 2024 Reviews received at journal 30 Aug, 2024 Reviews received at journal 26 Aug, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Aug, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Aug, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Aug, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 12 Aug, 2024 Editor invited by journal 12 Aug, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 09 Aug, 2024 First submitted to journal 29 Jul, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4823501","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":348386363,"identity":"a5b0a7f2-766d-4588-9b19-94b064dc84c5","order_by":0,"name":"Btissam MANDRI","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Bioressources, Environnement et Matériaux «LIRBEM», Cadi Ayyad University, Trainee Teachers Institute,","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Btissam","middleName":"","lastName":"MANDRI","suffix":""},{"id":348386365,"identity":"34937008-b42d-48c1-a985-527cfb32cd1f","order_by":1,"name":"Hicham EL KHALIL","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4ElEQVRIie3QPwrCMBTH8V8JxMFU10pFr1BxUME/V1E8hoIVIS5WV72FUiiODQVdPIBrF2cn6SSmbiKk6uSQ7/YCH94jgE73hzmAIaYuyjRHwo8JUsIoof0vCQhzPiMNkFBs9l1WIOxmJWNUi25+cFWRlkv7YncaysPMoLQ4oLYOTd9SHhYyR8ScPIkNCmMLc5tBildJJpKwi407epL4ScYWiB2PUkJtg2MgSaDeElFHbPgx/eR6y1taw3VkBk0lOc7i2OOjSnU+i8/Jrd1ZzT3/rCIgr6P19qLT6XS6H3oAwllDTGve78gAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Bioressources, Environnement et Matériaux «LIRBEM», Cadi Ayyad University, Trainee Teachers Institute,","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hicham","middleName":"EL","lastName":"KHALIL","suffix":""},{"id":348386367,"identity":"afc4c92b-bf50-41ea-9fd4-5126d79a11e9","order_by":2,"name":"Ali BOULARBAH","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Laboratoire de Bioressources et Sécurité Sanitaire des aliments, Cadi Ayyad University, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques,","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ali","middleName":"","lastName":"BOULARBAH","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-07-29 16:36:00","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4823501/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4823501/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-81184-6","type":"published","date":"2025-10-31T15:57:29+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":95040571,"identity":"3eb43ba3-7aed-4ce2-9a74-16bc03b573b9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-03 16:09:54","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":735531,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Mandrietal.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4823501/v1_covered_a2ae8d99-2a27-4e7c-a8a0-73906e394235.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Assessment of metallic trace element contents of soils and plants of urban and suburban areas of Safi City (Morocco)","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Metallic trace elements, Soil and plant contamination, Bioaccumulation Factor, Contamination Factor, Pollution Load Index, Urban and Suburban Areas","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4823501/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4823501/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eOur paper syntheses results obtained from studying the effect of typical contamination sources on soils and plants in selected urban and suburban areas in the Safi City. Using common methods, the physicochemical characterization and metallic trace elements (TEs) contents of plants and soils, collected from different urban areas, control area (CA), cement factory (SF), uncontrolled landfill (UL), treatment and transformation unit of phosphate (TP), were determined. Results show that the studied urban and suburban areas can be qualified as polluted by metallic trace elements and the most polluted one is TP area (CA\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;SF\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;UL\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;TP). Results underline the significant contribution of the atmospheric pollution on the contamination of soils and plants collected from TP, UL and surrounding areas with TEs. The most contaminated plants species by TEs are those sampled from TP area and they are \u003cem\u003eEucalyptus globulus\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eNerium oleander\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFicus carica\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eMedicago sativa\u003c/em\u003e. \u003cem\u003eSinapis arvensis L.\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eCarpobrotus edulis\u003c/em\u003e plants come in the second level with remarkable contamination levels of TEs respectively. Industrial activities in urban areas constitute a potential source of contamination of soils and plants by metallic trace elements that may pose real health risk for human population in the city. We can considered this study as a primary work to develop a global process to assess the environmental contamination of plants and soils in the region of Safi city. It can help us to manage potential polluted sites in a sustainable development strategy.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Assessment of metallic trace element contents of soils and plants of urban and suburban areas of Safi City (Morocco)","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-09-04 17:40:49","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4823501/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2024-09-02T12:02:59+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-08-30T14:43:18+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-08-26T15:05:48+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"117555871845815388493147306779380628585","date":"2024-08-19T13:21:02+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"197928309236898472005776611021373910881","date":"2024-08-19T07:36:59+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2024-08-19T02:51:42+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2024-08-12T23:28:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2024-08-12T14:34:07+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2024-08-09T04:36:52+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2024-07-29T16:32:54+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"62bdacd2-ec75-4e8b-be93-14f1ebde123b","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 4th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-03T16:06:23+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-4823501","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-81184-6","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2025-10-31 15:57:29","publishedOnDateReadable":"October 31st, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-09-04 17:40:49","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-024-81184-6","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-81184-6","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4823501","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4823501","identity":"rs-4823501","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}